Henry returns to the podcast! While he finally gets to talk about Dota 2, Graham weighs in on recent releases: Pikmin 3, Tales of Xillia and Dragon’s Crown. Also: what’s the ideal JRPG party size? Will Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney be Henry’s first Layton game and his first Ace Attorney? Did everyone else run away because they’re scared of red hair?
Check out the show here, check us out on iTunes or use the RSS feed in your favorite podcast aggregator. Let us know what you think! Email podcast[at]snackbar-games.com.
Hosts: Graham Russell, Henry Skey.
Music: Podcast theme by Tom Casper.
Genre 101 is a new series that looks at the past and present of a game genre to find lessons about what defines it. Each installment, Graham Russell brings in an expert “guest lecturer” to discuss significant and representative releases and topics. We start with the first-person shooter, and guest lecturer Andrew Passafiume.
Labyrinthine beginnings
Andrew Passafiume: Very few people talk about (or are aware of) what is considered by many to be the first “first-person shooter.” Catacomb 3-D, developed by id Software, technically isn’t a shooter in the traditional sense (you use magic instead of guns), yet it is the game that established the id formula and eventually led the company down the path to create the shooters we are more familiar with. While many people consider Wolfenstein 3D as the shooter that started it all, they often overlook Catacomb and how it essentially moved the industry towards the future of first-person shooters. READ MORE
Most multiplayer games are designed to be played in a single evening. This makes a lot of sense, as it can be a huge headache to organize multiple play gatherings, especially with the exact same configuration of players, and an experience that’s easier to get into generally has a much better chance of success.
If you go through the effort, though, longer multiplayer experiences can be truly memorable and magical in ways that one-off party play just can’t. READ MORE
The Tales series has developed a very dedicated, core following by sticking to what it knows. Not every franchise is Final Fantasy, reinventing itself with each new installment. Just as Dragon Quest, as much as it evolves, will be forever shaped by the mechanics of its NES days, Tales has embraced its roots in the late-’90s JRPG environment. READ MORE
The latest release from Vanillaware, Dragon’s Crown, is a bundle of contradictions. It’s brilliantly elegant, except for the moments when it’s mind-numbingly frustrating. It’s gorgeous and lush, except for the moments when it makes you intensely uncomfortable. It’s a multiplayer-focused design that may be best played solo, and it’s a much-needed evolution of the brawler genre that nevertheless clings tightly to long-outdated mechanics and methods.
READ MORE
